Family Ties and the Will of God (Matthew 12:46-50)

In Matthew 12:38-45, we saw, not only the religious leaders, but also the people rejecting Jesus as the Messiah.  Although they have had the testimony of the prophet, John the Baptist, and the authoritative words and miraculous works of Jesus, and experienced the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit, they have by and large rejected Him. Even worse, they attributed His miracles to the work of Satan which Jesus declared was the final step for them in their negative response to the presentation of the Messiah to Israel.  There is no other credential or proof that will be provided to them after rejecting the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Now on the heels of this rejection, Jesus’ mother and brothers came to Him again seeking to speak to Him.  Matthew doesn’t tell us what they wanted but Jesus uses the interruption to drive home a crucial point.

To the man who relayed His family’s request (and to the crowd) Jesus asked, “Who is My mother?  And who are My brothers?”

Then, quite unexpectedly, Jesus pointed dramatically to His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Mark’s gospel also discusses these same events in chapter 3 where he also revealed an earlier encounter with His earthly family right after commissioning the Twelve to preach throughout Israel and returning to Capernaum where He was busily healing everybody.  In verses 20-21, His family declares that Jesus is out of His mind.  Then we have Mark’s record of Jesus being accused of being in league with Satan and Jesus’ reply.  And finally, Mark records substantially the same event that Matthew records here at the end of chapter twelve.

So evidently, Matthew is being somewhat restrained in his back story but Mark tells us that Jesus’ public comment about His earthly family may have played off that very public denunciation of Him by His own family!  They were not doing the will of the Father in heaven!  (Later we know that Mary and two of His brothers—James and Jude—became leaders in the Jerusalem church.  James and Jude are also responsible for the New Testament books bearing their names.  But right now, they are not convinced.)

And indeed, we also must give the highest priority to our spiritual family and to doing the will of God when it conflicts with our earthly family’s demands.  We dare not risk missing entrance into the kingdom of heaven over an issue of family loyalty.

© 2018 Eric Thimell